Day 27: Goodbye Killer

Sunday was our last day with Killer for 3 weeks. She's staying with my parents for the week before our cruise, the week of our cruise, and the week after. They're keeping her a 3rd week because they're driving down for the Atlanta temple open house on the 16th, so they'll just bring her with them instead of making an extra trip. So we did another family photo shoot to hold us over for the next little while.

Love, Brad Courtney & Killer

Day 26: Hello Bandwagon

The cool thing to do these days is to get yourself some fringe bangs.

These lovely ladies are gorgeous regardless of their hairstyles, but I thought maybe if I had bangs I could be gorgeous too. Okay, so that isn't the only reason I did it. I hated the awful swoop bangs that I got last time I cut my hair, so I told the hair girl to just cut them all the same length so I could grow them out. What a fabulous job she did. I thought I would hate the new bangs because I hated the old bangs. But you gotta do what you gotta do. I really needed to grow the bangs out, so my hair could get back to normal eventually. Well, it turns out that I love the new bangs. Wanna see?!

What do you think?? I also finally grew out my hair long enough to cut off ALL the ugly blond tips from when I dyed my hair years ago. Apparently it makes my hair look way darker. Brad is still skeptical when I to get tell him that I didn't darken it in any way. That should tell you how long ago I dyed my hair and how long it's taken me to get rid of it.

We went bowling later that night with Thomas, Elizabeth, and a few of their friends. Pretty much I'm posting these just to show off more pictures of my new hair cut.

Love, Courtney

Day 25: Tennessee Sounds Good to Me

On Friday once we got off work, we drove up to my parents' house in Tennessee. Since we're going on our cruise VERY SOON we went ahead and dropped Killer off with them. My siblings have been asking when she was coming for weeks now, so they were definitely excited to see her. This is one of my favorite things to see:

We had a pretty uneventful drive. Killer slept most of the way with her face as close as possible to the air vent, which was blowing out cold air.

Love, Brad & Courtney

Day 24: Long Day

This morning I left my house at 8am and didn't return until 9:21pm. 

I went to work, then to school, and then back to work for a class meeting. It would have been fantastic if home was near work and work was near school, but everything is on the opposite side of town from each other. I drove 72.5 miles in one day.

I'm sure some of you are probably thinking that's really not all that bad, but now consider that it took be 2 hours and 53 minutes to drive those 72.5 miles. That's right, I worked for 8 hours, went to class for an hour and a half, and sat in traffic for 3 hours. What got me through today was thinking that in 2 short weeks on this same day I won't be sitting in traffic, I won't be working, and I won't be in class, I'll be in ST. LUCIA!!

Love, Courtney

Day 23: Spinach Spaghetti

I'm sure many of you know I'm quite the picky eater. Brad will attest that I've gotten much better over the years, but it's hard to change 20 years worth of eating habits. I'm desperately trying to eat a more balanced diet though. I tend to stick with fruits, carbs, and meat (and sometimes dairy when I decide I can put up with a rumbling tummy). I eat absolutely nothing green. I really really need and want to buy Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, which is all about hiding healthy foods in things your kids will eat. Kinda silly, I know. But I feel like if I just can't taste yucky vegetables or if I could get them to taste better I'd eat them more. Totally rational, if you ask me. Anyways, without the cookbook in tow, I'm trying to get creative. I made this DELICIOUS dish Wednesday night and had it again for lunch Thursday afternoon.

12 ounces spaghetti
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bag (6 ounces) baby spinach
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

(1) Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti according to package directions, about 12 minutes. 
(2) Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add bread crumbs to skillet and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often, or until lightly browned. Add half of the garlic and 1/8 teaspoon of the red pepper flakes to skillet; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from skillet and wipe clean. 

(3) Reduce heat to low and add remaining 3 tablespoons oil, garlic and 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes to skillet. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until garlic is golden. Add spinach to skillet and toss until wilted, about 2 minutes. 

(4) Stir spinach mixture and Parmesan cheese into pasta. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and toss gently. Serve immediately.  

I didn't have any spaghetti noodles, so I used shells. I thought red pepper flakes sounded super weird in this recipe, but I added them anyways. They seriously made the meal! The hint of spiciness plus the crunchiness of the panko bread crumbs was wonderfully perfect. I did not, however, put in the whole 6 ounces of spinach because it looked like so much in the bag. I regret it. I should have used it all and maybe more, because the green in this "spaghetti" was super yummy! Try it out! If I liked it, I promise you will too.

Love, Courtney

Day 22: School

This is what I found in the parking lot of Georgia Perimeter College Tuesday night at 10pm.

Why in the world was I at school so late? Because I was doing this:

Drawing digestive system histology. I have an anatomy lab Tuesday nights from 7 to 10pm. It's pretty much awful. You can feel bad for me. 

Love, Courtney

Day 21: The Life

Today was a gorgeous 78 degree day. So we decided to make everyone that lives around us in our apartment complex jealous of how cool we are. We hiked a little ways into the wooded area by our apartment and put up a hammock. People were definitely jealous. Our next door neighbor said, "Man, I gotta get me one of those!" I mean, really, who doesn't just love a two person hammock?

Please ignore my nasty half-painted toes. Brad was using my foot as a book stand.

We ended up being out there for a good 2 hours. It was fantastic!

Love, Brad & Courtney

Day 20: Happy Birthday Jared!

Today is Jared's birthday. He's 31 or 32, I can't remember. But regardless of his age, he's one of the best brother-in-laws I have. Maybe one day he, Neil, and Jeff will fight over this coveted spot. I'll be sure to sell tickets. Don't worry, you won't miss out. Lori sent this picture to me that was taken today, so I can keep the rules of this blog posting challenge.

Don't you love the baby hand and foot just sticking out the side of the picture?

Happy Birthday Jared! We hope it's super duper fantastic! And everything you ever dreamed of. Although we know that won't happen since we're not there. 

Love, Brad & Courtney

Day 19: Roller Derby and Doughnuts

Brad, for his birthday, received Roller Derby tickets. Since they only have bouts once a month and the one in February had come and gone, I bought tickets to the one in March. The day finally came, and after educating ourselves on the extremely complex rules of the game, we made the trek down to Atlanta to see the Atlanta Roller Girls - Fantastic Feats of Female Athleticism. We watched the undefeated Toxic Shocks take on the Apocalypstix. We didn't know the Toxic Shocks were undefeated when we entered the arena and decided we needed to pick a team to root for. Based on the color of their uniforms and their AWESOME cheerleaders, we choose to back the Apocalypstix.

Sorry the pictures aren't that great. The lighting was terrible for any picture-taking hopefuls like us. The game was back and forth the entire time. Finally with only one jam left the Apocalypstix put in their best jammer, The Ruffian, who had scored the majority of their already existing points. After getting beat up a little she made her way through the pack and became the lead jammer. She scored a couple more points just for good measure, called off the jam, and ended the bout. The Apocalypstix beat the aforementioned unbeatable Toxic Shocks!! It was seriously amazing, and my writing about it doesn't give it justice. If you have never been to a roller derby bout before, GO! It will be jaw dropping. After only an hour of roller derby I wanted to be a roller girl! Maybe one day... For a quick run down of the rules, go HERE.

While driving home we passed the only Krispy Kreme in town. Shocking, right? That Atlanta only has one Krispy Kreme. Provo even had one, for heaven's sake. Anyways, we never get doughnuts because we don't want to drive 20 minutes to downtown just for a treat that doesn't even fill you up and leaves you wanting more. It's probably better we don't live closer to doughnut haven, because we would seriously always be eating doughnuts. Well we stopped after I begged Brad, who seemed convinced he didn't want any. Turns out he really did want some because we ended up getting a whole dozen. But in his defense, who has honestly ever gone to Krispy Kreme without buying at least one dozen?! It makes way more financial sense. It costs one dollar for one doughnut but seven dollars for twelve. We couldn't even wait until we got home to enjoy the hot-melt-in-your-mouth goodness, so we found a seat and ate some right away.

Love, Brad & Courtney

Day 18: Warning - TMI

About 2 months ago I noticed a small dry red patch on the inside of my thigh. Not thinking anything of it, I lathered it up with lotion and forgot about it. A couple weeks later I suddenly realized it had gotten huge. I immediately thought - ringworm. It was almost a perfect circle and the outside was more dry and scaly than the middle. So I did a little ringworm research. Apparently ringworm itches and is easily spread. This patch wasn't itchy or tender and Brad didn't have anything that looked like it. So I once again forgot about it and figured it would just go away. A couple more weeks went by and Brad pointed out a few more spots on my back. Huh, that's weird. In the next couple of days the spots on my back had doubled, and several more had broken out on my front torso. Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Every morning I counted the spots in the mirror and everyday there were more. So finally I made an appointment to visit the dermatologist. That visit was today. After explaining to Dr. Alexander what it looked like and before even showing him all my spots, he said, "You could be in a textbook." What to know what I have?

It's a skin virus called Pityriasis Rosea. PR for short. Pretty much the name just mean red scaly skin. Attractive, right? You get it after being exposed to a virus, something as simple as a cold. Your immune system, in the process of fighting this other virus that doesn't even present itself with any symptoms, gets a little over zealous and causes a "herald patch" to develop. The "herald patch" calls other patches and within a few weeks you've got one huge patch and lots of little baby ones. The doctor said it's nothing to worry about, and I shouldn't ever get it again. It usually goes away within 6-8 weeks, which is about how long I've had it. But he gave me a steroid cream to see if we can't push it along a bit. The sun also does wonders on getting rid of it. Thank goodness we're going on a cruise in 15 days, right?!

This is the "herald patch":

This picture makes it look a lot worse than it really is, but it's still nasty and unsightly.

These are the patches that have been heralded.

Not nearly as bad but still unsightly, especially when they're all over me.

So...for the next little while I'll be slabbing this stuff all over me to try and get rid of the PR.

Side note: Killer will be getting her claws clipped tomorrow. This was a complete accident.

Love, Courtney

Day 17: Our Many Attempts at a Family Picture

After our particular boring Thursday, I decided we'd just take a family picture for our day 17 blog post. Turns out that's quite a hassle, which ends up making this post a little more exciting.

Taking pictures is obviously pretty tiring.

Love, Brad Courtney & Killer

Day 16: No More Pulling

Killer has always pulled on her leash. She hates being contained. We let her run free when we can, but when there's lots of people around she has be on a leash. We took her to puppy training class thinking that might help with the pulling issue. We learned that if you hold a treat by your side as you walk your pup will walk right beside you looking up hoping for the treat. This works great when we do it, but it's not always super practical. I don't carry treats when I run, so she pulls. We don't carry treats when we're only going a short distance, so she pulls. We don't carry treats when our hands are full, so she pulls. She doesn't care if we stop moving, she tries to drag us with her. It makes us so sad to hear her wheezing and having a hard time breathing because she's pulling her collar so tight around her neck. So...we finally took the recommendations of many advice-giving friends and bought a Gentle Leader.

This thing works wonders. Whenever she pulls on the leash this collar pulls her head to the side, makes her stop dead in her tracks, and walk back to where we are. She obviously hates wearing it. Who wouldn't? For the first half of our walk she would frequently stop and try to paw the nose piece off. She finally accepted the fact that she wasn't going to get it off and eventually decided to walk with us. People who saw us walking gave us dirty looks and said things like "poor thing." But it isn't a muzzle. She can pant, drink water, and hold things in an open mouth with this collar on. And it doesn't hurt her at all; it just drives her crazy. I'm excited to try it out running with her. I'm also excited that it's hot pink so people will stop assuming Killer is boy.

On a side note, we played the longest game of Mexican train that any two people have ever played. Brad: 8, Courtney: 0.

Love, Brad & Courtney